Advice

Don't roll out of the paver....

It's not rocket science, just ride the brakes and let the paver push you along. It takes some time to get really good at it...

Usually the new guys get put on crap work first away from the paver to kinda prove themselves.

 

Watch the paver operator's hand signals closely. The last thing you want to do is overfill the hopper with hot asphalt, best case it just makes a mess worst case you burn somebody pretty bad. Depending on the jobsite also watch for overhead wires as you will be pushed along by the paver and will have to tip a few times, look out for overhead obstacles. Last, don't slam into the paver when preparing to make your first dump, again follow their hand signals closely, you don't want to push the paver back over the work it has already laid nor do you want to knock someone on their arse.

 

Back up to paver. Keep your dam eye on the man standing on the back of that freaking paver. He is standing on fire believe it or not.

Pay dam attention to his finger. If he crooks it at you, unlock your dam gate. (Two hooks on the back of your end dump, (You already have stopped to check and make sure your chains are off or loose as directed by your boss)

Settle her down with the service brake against the paver. Forget about your engine for the moment. Engage PTO. Move that lever just a little tiny bit as your boss spins a finger at you a little bit.

STOP LIFTING DAM you when you are yelled at or told. HOLD THAT THERE. STAY in nuetral with service brakes loose enough so paver can push you if he chooses to. You will already be either in nuetral or granny lowest gear with clutch in.

Never take your eyes off that paver man. He is your God. Nothing else matters now not even your wife calling on the cell.

Continue to lift and feed paver as directed, GENTLY. DONT you get stupid and dump the whole pile onto him.

You will be empty eventually. Drop that bed and go get another load, he be waiting on you. Only if you are told to.

 

ERM... we three axles don't move for &^%$ when being filled at the blacktop plant. Neither do we move for sand or stone or anything else.

Now when you bring me a 30, 40 or even a 50 foot bucket to fill with blacktop for western Interstates... Yea you have marks to key on for 1,2,3. Usually the driver mirrior is what lines up with a spraymark on the wall over to your left. Or a red light green light system. Nothing too complicated.

 

That CANNOT BE EMPHASIZED ENOUGH!

The most logical thing to do, is to let them know that you are a rookie on this particular assignment. Don't care if you've got 150 years and 900 million miles in a truck, you are still a rookie here. Don't hesitate to ask questions. Don't let it bother you when they yell at you to tell you what you don't know. They'd rather you ask, than to have you screw up something they have to fix!
BE SURE YOU ARE STRAIGHT ON THE HAND SIGNALS! Everybody tends to get upset, when they give you the "light braking" sign, and you mistake it for "get off the brakes." Trust me, the voice of experience here. It is not pleasant and does not get good reactions when you roll away from the hopper, and dump hot mix in front of it, rather than in it...

I don't know where you are, but here in the heat of the desert in the summer, I just can't imagine running one of those darn things.

 

Moving the truck will depend on the batch plant you are loading under. One plant I pulled out of for my dad only did one big dump, another did three smaller drops and you could slide forward a bit to better distribute the weight in your box. You will be in line behind other trucks, watch what they do, some places you spray your box with no stick lube (usually diesel fuel in a weed spray bottle) others they won't let you out of the truck once on site. Another important point, if you have a tarp with side flaps, use them, especially on a highway project the site inspectors will randomly take temperature readings of your product, too cold and the load gets rejected. On the last project I worked before my dad passed PennDot had inspectors at the batch plant and they made sure we used our side flaps to keep the heat in the body.